Edgar 'the Peaceable', King of England is crowned at Bath, some 14 years after gaining the throne, in an imperious ceremony, emulating that of his Holy Roman Emperor uncle (by marriage) Otto I crowned 962 in the Eternal city of Rome, and to celebrate the culmination of his reign. He also summoned Celtic princes to row him down river, an impressive sight but no more than show as the rule of 'Britain' had dissipated.

Edgar had sworn justice and order as his coronation oath, he delivered them with an iron fist. 'Peaceable' was probably not how his subjects experienced his rule. One ambitious act he did achieve in 973 was to issue a 'single currency' for a 'single people'. Foreign, obsolete or coins lacking the required silver purity were declared illegal tender. Regularly the silver coins of his kingdom were recalled for re-stamping, for which of course Edgar would take a cut on reissue, a license to 'imprint' money. The penalty for forgery was raised from mutilation to death.

Estates were also quantified and audited for tax. There was nothing comparable to Edgar's monetary efficiency in western christendom. He might not have been 'Caesar' but he had a solid treasury.

Died

8 Jul 975

Winchester, Hampshire, England

Buried

Glastonbury, Somerset, England

Notes

!Colonial and Revolutionary Lineages of America (973 D2ah) Vol. 2 Saxon King of the English. During the rule of his brother, King Edwy, Edgar was chosen by the Mericians and Northumbrians to be their sovereign. One of his first acts was to recall the monastic reformer St. Dunstan, whom Edwy had exiled; Edgar subsequently made Dunstan bishop of Worcester and London and archbishop of Canterbury. In 959 at the age of sixteen years he succeeded his brother
Eadwig as King of the West Saxons and the entire English Kingdom. His reign was not eventful, though it was a
period of national consolidation, peace and orderly government; reformation of the clergy, improvement of the judiciary system, and formation of a fleet to defend the coast against the Scandinavian Vikings.
Eadgar did not interfere with the Danish districts in England, but granted them self-government in their districts. This conciliatory policy met with signal success, and the Danish population lived peacefully under his supremacy. He made alliance with Otto I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and received many gifts from him. His fame had spread abroad and he was respected by the Kings on the continent. Or died in 1016?